Pavlova – easy dessert for the lazy chef.

13^th February night, I was telling my husband how lame the whole concept of ‘valentine’s day’ was. And 14^th February night, I was shouting at him for not getting me flowers and gifts for valentine’s day. What happened in between, was some mushy posts and pictures of seemingly grinning couples holding bouquets and displaying gifts on facebook. After all the diaper-changing (for the baby), clothes-folding (for the family) and cold coffee making (for me), my husband ended up listening to my bickering over some silly flowers. Flowers, which I really didn’t care about! Talk about commercialization ruining lives!!

So in the spirit of “valentine’s” but more so as an apology to my darling for my petty behavior, I decided to bring in some sweetness to the household. Being irreparably lazy, it HAD to be an easy dessert. SO, I thought “Pavlova!” and nodded to myself. Yes. It was time to crack open some eggs and break down some sugar controls. (Mafia tone)

Pavlova is the kind of dessert you can make with wonderfully few ingredients. Whip it up, bake, top it up with cream, serve and SCORE! And if you mess up? Cover it up with more cream ofcourse. Oodles of chocolate won’t hurt either!

Things you need for Pavlova:

Whites of 4 large eggs. (Must be room temperature)

Salt- a pinch

Caster sugar- 250g

Cornflour- 2 tsp

White wine vinegar- 1 tsp

Vanilla extract- 4 or 5 drops

(I thank http://www.lifestyled.com.au/food/pavlova-magic/ for guiding me through pavlova basics!)

Things you need for Cream topping:

Whipping Cream- 300ml (or I sachet DreamWhip, package instructions followed)

Things you need for Chocolate topping (just to make it more deadly!):

Thick cream – 200ml

Chocolate chips- 100g (or more depending on your craving)

The process:

1. Preheat oven to 180C

2. Beat the egg whites and salt until the peaks are silky

3. Beat in the sugar, one-third at a time, to get stiff and shiny peaks

4. Sprinkle in the cornflour, vinegar and vanilla. Fold lightly

5. Spread this onto the baking paper within a 20cm radius (or whatever shape/size you fancy). Keep the sides and top smooth

6. Place in the oven and bring down the temperature to 150C

7. Bake for 1 hour. Switch off the gas. DO NOT open the oven or take the pavlova out. Let it take time and cool by itself.

Once it turns stone cold, it is ready to be adorned with the cream and chocolate. You can either spread the packed whipping cream (after slightly beating it), or make your whipping cream using DreamWhip (which is what I did).

Further, for the chocolate topping, heat the thick cream in a pan and pour it over the dark chocolate. The chocolate will melt into the cream. Let it cool down, and voila, you have your chocolate topping. Spread it over the pavlova and whipping cream, for a totally mean looking (and heavenly-tasting) dessert!

P.s: I have 4 egg yolks in my fridge right now, and I’m thinking Crème Brulee. If you can suggest better ideas for it, please do! The easier your ideas, the more I shall be thankful! 🙂